The invention relates to vibration conveyor apparatus, and in particular to the apparatus to be used for feeding granular materials along inclined channels.
More specifically, the invention relates to the feeding of granular rocks to be fed after the mining along inclined mining excavations, as well as to the feeding of any granular materials from an upper level to a lower level along special channels.
At present, it is well known that belt, scraper, plate and pendulum conveyors are used for feeding rocks along inclined mining excavations.
The disadvantage of the belt and scraper conveyors resides in their unreliable operation under the above-mentioned conditions due to a rapid wear of belts and troughs of the conveyors as well as due to the expulsion of traction chains from the troughs.
The disadvantage of the plate and pendulum conveyors consists in a large labour consumption required for their assembly and disassembly, as well as their large size, which makes them operable only in the excavations having a considerable cross-sectional area, normally of at least 5 m.sup.2.
It is also known to use for the above-mentioned purposes vibration conveyor apparatus comprising a vibration trough cambered in the direction from the forward loading end towards the rearward discharge end with the camber down.
This trough is provided with a means for cantilevering it in a channel and is connected to a vibrator (of. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 275835, Cl. 81e, 51).
During the feeding, the material moves from the top down along a smoothly concave surface.
The main disadvantage of such apparatus consists in the fact that they are applicable on short lengths only, normally not exceeding 5 m due to the above-described concavity of the working surface of the trough.
There are also known vibration conveyor apparatus having a trough disposed axially along the flow path of the material being fed. Among these apparatus there should be mentioned such which have the bottom portion of the trough of a convex shape with the convexity directed inwardly of the trough, probably with a view to intensifying the stirring in the trough. The camber of the bottom wall is controlled by means of hydraulic jacks serving to support the vibration trough on the bottom of the excavation (of. the German Federal Republic Pat. No. 1189452, Cl. 81e, 52).
The common disadvantage of these apparatus consists in their unreliable operation due to a rapid failure of hydraulic jacks and resilient support members taking-up heavy loads of the frame weight.
In addition, the apparatus having the trough bottom wall with the convexity directed inwardly of the trough are complicated in the manufacture and maintenance due to the intricate shape of the troughs and employment of the system of hydraulic support jacks described above.
All the above-mentioned disadvantages impair the reliability of operation of such conveyor apparatus.
There are also known vibration conveyor apparatus to be used for the above-mentioned purposes comprising a vertically triangular frame supported on the bottom of an excavation by resilient members, and a base. A vibrator is mounted within the frame. A receiving trough and a feeding trough are sequentially arranged on the inclined side of the frame along the direction of flow of the material being fed (cf. German Pat. No. 711362, Cl. 81e, 51).
These apparatus are disadvantageous because of their large size and unreliable operation due to a rapid wear of the elastic members taking up heavy loads of the frame weight during the operation.
It is known to use for feeding materials in underground excavations scraper arrangements which are unreliable due to a rapid wear of ropes and unproductive when feeding materials along mining excavations of a considerable length.